Foster, Sunseri Relationship Dates Back to Elementary School

In a sport that's all about connections, UCLA offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri and his head coach, DeShaun Foster, have a connection that few know dates back to when Sunseri was 10 years old.

The coaching tandem dates back to Foster's NFL days and Sunseri's elementary school days, when the second-year head coach was starring in the Carolina Panthers' backfield and Sunseri's father, well-esteemed NFL and college football coach, Sal Sunseri, was Carolina's defensive line coach.

"I met coach Foster when I was 10 years old, going into the sixth grade," Sunseri said in a sit-down with Ashley Adamson and Yogi Roth during the Big Ten Network's UCLA training camp special .

"My dad had just gotten the Carolina Panthers job, and the only time at that time that I could be able to see my dad, because he was working so hard, was to be able to kind of go into work and be able to find work.

"So, what my dad did is he put me down in the equipment room, and I was folding towels, I was cleaning laundry, I was setting up the field.

Back in the day there was screw-in cleats, I was screwing in cleats.

And you'd be able to walk around the locker room and there was guys in that locker room that weren't just competitors, they were commanders.

They commanded presence; they commanded the room.

Anybody that walked in that room at time, we had a special team, they made you feel a aprt of that team.

"And coach Foster was one of those guys from day one.

As soon as I walked in there, he made me feel valued as a young guy.

He would ask how we were doing and ask what was going on with our school.

That just goes to show you, whenever you have a true relationship, it doesn't matter how many years you go, you can still have that same kind of relationship in the future." Sunseri Lauded For Hands-On Approach Second-year Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster can't help but praise Sunseri.

Foster, a former running back, and Sunseri, a former quarterback, are a perfect match to lift UCLA's revamped offense.

"He just does a good job with the quarterbacks," Foster said during last week's media availability .

"He's fiery.

He holds them to a standard and he's not budging.

I love everything that Tino's bringing to the offense and the guys are responding to it." The Bruins' offense is going through a lot of changes.

Not only personnel-wise, after adding key transfers like Nico Iamaleava under center and Jaivian Thomas in the backfield, but also schematically.

UCLA is pivoting into an "everything" offense under Sunseri, and Foster thinks they are coming along well through two weeks of fall camp.

"We're in a good place," Foster said of the offense.

"They're taking strides and people are playing multiple positions at each level.

So, the outside guys are playing multiple positions, receivers and tight ends are doing the same, and running backs.

And it's all coming together." Make sure to bookmark UCLA Bruins On SI to get all your daily UCLA Bruins news, analysis and more! Read more on UCLA football and their momentous second season in the Big Ten and under DeShaun Foster here .

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